A Very Soapy Winterfest Party
by pinkish-red hearts
Summary: Against her judgment, Brienne allowed herself to be dragged into the disco portion of her school's Winterfest party. (Edit: Sorry about the formatting AGAIN. I fixed it I think)


**Author's Note: So sorry about this. Ugh. Why does ao3 do this to me when I'm copy pasting T-T**

The bass vibrated into Brienne's skull but she didn't mind at all. She jumped and punched the air with the music as if she was the same as everybody else. Brienne made herself forget for a moment that she was ugly and awkward, and simply enjoyed herself. On either side of her, Sansa and Margaery, her two dearest friends and also currently dating, were grinding hotly against her. Brienne would have found it embarrassing but she had stopped thinking as soon as she was in the party zone of Summer Isle University's grassy sports field. The party lights, EDM, and soapy foam being shot out of the red machine and raining down on the party people had sent Brienne in a some kind of high that dulled out all rational thought. All she wanted was to dance and sing and scream without a care.

Another blast from the foam machine hit her face and covered her with more of the stuff.

With all coherent thinking thrown out of her head, Brienne made the mistake of laughing while the foam machine was still shooting at her direction.

Immediately, soap filled her mouth. Brienne sputtered out the foam and stumbled around blindly, trying to get away from the machine's path.

Suddenly, the music was subdued and she didn't feel like a canned sardine. Brienne shook her arms in attempt to rid the soap bubbles off her jacket sleeves. She, then, proceeded to wipe off the foam from one of her sleeves to avoid having more soap adding to her face as she wiped it clean off the bubbles.

As soon as she was sure her face was soap-free, Brienne opened her eyes.

She almost jumped when she was eye-to-eye with Jaime Lannister's emerald eyes.

"Someone's having a good time," he said, giving her that teasing smirk that made her face heat up. Several feet beside her, the main party still went on, but the lights, the sounds, the foam, and the people concentrated at the area directly in front of the stage. Everyone else who would rather spend their night doing anything else but being packed closely with a bunch of drenched teenagers, littered around the rest of the lit field. Brienne and the rest of the group knew Loras and Renly were probably doing it somewhere in the campus after they had excused themselves so abruptly.

"Right back at you," she replied, making note of his foamy appearance.

He laughed. "It's just... I never thought I'd even see you party, freshie." Brienne rolled her eyes at the nickname. She was now a regular third year student but she had met Jaime when she was a freshman while he was a senior- a senior who had stopped schooling for a while then came back to take some classes he missed or failed at. "Let alone party like that."

Brienne raised her brow but she understood. The school's mandatory Winterfest program allowed their students to leave once the EDM party began and Brienne had been always happy to leave by that point. Her routine would be packing for her trip back to Tarth during the holidays and calling her dad. But when she saw the foam falling down on the crowd like snow, Brienne couldn't help but be reminded of her childhood days. As wonderful as the Summer Isles were, the place was hot almost the whole year. The only time it wasn't was when it was heavily raining. She missed the autumn, spring and even the freezing winter season. Sansa and Margaery must have seen her longing look and had proceeded to drag her into the party. For the first time in her life, Brienne allowed herself to be carried with the flow.

"I miss winter," she admitted to him.

"Same," he replied. "It's always so hot here in the Summer Isles. I could probably melt."

Brienne thought that he was also hot and she'd melt from his smile alone but she didn't have the drug of the party to let her say it out loud.

"Is this why you stayed, too?" Brienne asked instead. Some time after Loras and Renly had left, someone announced over the speakers that the gates were open and they were free to leave after they time out. Her friends were used to her leaving when the gates were open so Sansa and Margaery had offered to take her to the gates. They turned to Jaime asking if he wanted to come. He had looked like he wanted to say something but he only waved at them, saying he wanted to stay a bit longer. Under her breath, Sansa muttered something about being unchivalrous and Brienne lightly elbowed her. They said their goodbyes and parted. Brienne had wondered bitterly if Jaime had been impatiently waiting for some girl he wanted to make out with and was looking for the right time to leave them without being impolite.

Jaime shrugged in response to her question. "I just felt like it maybe? Open space and night skies are quite nostalgic. But when I saw you actually staying and having a great time. Thought I'd try the foam machine, as well." The playful spark danced in his eyes once more. "I would have joined you but I didn't want to disturb your threesome."

"Jaime!" she shrieked. Brienne didn't know what she was bothered about though- the embarrassment of Margaery and Sansa sliding sensually against her (Margaery often japed that Brienne was the couple's third party) or the elation of Jaime watching her from afar (which should be kinda creepy but she wasn't creeped out at all). She was a virgin but she wasn't entirely ignorant. Though the last time she made out with someone, it had turned out to be a bet on getting her maidenhead. Although Jaime had made sure that the guys who did it learned their lesson, Brienne had been flinching at most physical contact. She had felt unclean at touching Hyle, even if nothing had happened beyond kissing. Her septa-like behavior ever since that time probably made her partying look outrageous.

"Soooooo," he drawled, suddenly switching the topic. "Did you like my gift?" It had been an impromptu thing to do a secret gift exchange. Originally, it was only Brienne, Sansa, Margaery, Renly, and Loras who were involved but Jaime randomly showed up at the library, saying hi to Brienne, and Sansa invited him to join. They were a friendly group so they didn't mind Jaime joining, though Brienne suspected her gay friends and Margaery, who was bi, had the hots for Jaime. The name she had drawn out was Loras who had a taste for branded clothing. She would have gotten him the actual brand of floral pants he liked but with only three days until the school's Winterfest program and no budget for it, Brienne settled for the thrift shop. Loras seemed to like it but she was never really sure with Loras. He often made comments about Brienne's past affections for Renly that bordered on mean. But she really did see of Renly as a friend now. Besides, she thought more of green rather than blue for almost two years now.

"I- I really loved it, Jaime," she piped to say something, though 'love' was an understatement. She wanted to die and roll on the grass from happiness. Jaime got her a white shirt with a print of a golden pommel of a lion with rubies- the pommel of Oathkeeper, her OTP's Valyrian steel sword. The words, "It's yours" were printed in black on either side of it. The sword was from the show, Fire and Ice. One of the characters, Ser Goldenhand previously owned the sword, but when he had to split ways with his companion, Lady Blueknight, he gave it to her as a gift to guard the Northern princess they swore to protect. She tried giving it back but he insisted it was hers. The characters never had sex, or even kissed but she liked the meaningful stares, the slowburn and the mystery behind them. Almost as mysterious as their names. Due to the lack of physical happenings between them, people still think it's platonic but Brienne always scoffed at those comments. Being a literature major, she knew about reading between the lines. She's read the ongoing books Fire and Ice was based from and the subtext screamed romance to her. "It's yours" was a like a wedding vow. Ser Goldenhand was giving her his heart. Should anything happen to him, he'd like to have a piece of him with her. Brienne was convinced that "I'm yours" was the real meaning behind his words.

"Okay Brienne, I believe you!" Jaime said with a laugh and it snapped her from her thoughts. "You're getting that look again when you're about to convulse into BlueGold feels."

Brienne blushed. She knew how she talked her friends ears off with BlueGold analysis when they begin talking about Fire and Ice.

"Sorry," she muttered.

"No, no. Don't be," Jaime spluttered. "I think it's actually kinda..." Then he trailed off, like he was biting back what he wanted to say. Brienne wondered what had gotten him so careful with his words today.

"You know what," he said instead. "Let's dance!"

For the second time today and probably her whole life, Brienne allowed herself to get pulled into the party. Her eardrums boomed once more. Laser lights zigzagged across her vision. The sea of people engulfed her. But it was Jaime Lannister's hand around her wrist that made her chest beat an entirely different rhythm from the music.

Her party high sunk a bit once Jaime let go but it quickly rose as soon as he started dancing. A stream of foam flew over their heads and she was back in ecstasy lane. She began to jump to the beat and raised her hands in the air. The great thing with this is that for once she blended in. Everyone was too into the music to even notice her.

But not Jaime.

Jaime's attention was all on her.

Somehow, his intense gaze emboldened her to sway, just like the pretty girls did. Jaime quickly picked up on the mood and tried to imitate her. They probably looked ridiculous but she didn't care. No one will.

The mood of the music was rising higher and higher and the crowd was getting denser and denser, pushing her from behind. Brienne was so lost in the moment and kept dancing and dancing as the music soared to its peak until the music briefly stopped.

At that point, she bumped her chest against Jaime's.

The bass dropped.

And Jaime grabbed her face and kissed her.

It was unlike any kiss she experienced before. While her past experiences had been filled with hesitance, this one was relentless. It was like their lips had been kept under lock, unfed, and they were each other's key and nourishment. For they kissed as if to devour the other.

Brienne felt the familiar blow of the foam machine and at first, she ignored it. But when she tasted detergent in her tongue, she had to break apart and spit the nasty taste out.

When she was sure that the taste was out, she peered through her foamy sight and found Jaime laughing. Brienne found herself laughing as well. Jaime closed in her face and she thought he was going to kiss her again but he stopped a few inches and opened his mouth. He seemed to be saying something but Brienne didn't catch it. Jaime pulled her along. This time he held her hand and Brienne tried to steady her already racing heartbeat.

He lead her back to the outside of the main party.

With the elation of the party gone, Brienne realized what just happened and all the bravado drained away, replaced by embarrassment.

Jaime and Brienne had this fine line in their relationship. She liked him. A lot. And Jaime did flirt with her. A lot. But she was certain it was teasing.

But then again, he never teased Sansa or Margaery like he teased her.

But still...

It didn't matter. She was used to liking pretty boys who'll never like her back.

But the thought that her feelings might be returned was... scary.

The panic must have shown because Jaime looked the same as she felt. He would have looked hilarious with half his body covered in suds but the distress in his face was real.

"By the seven," he hissed, closing his eyes. "I wasn't- I didn't mean to- you're probably thinking I'm an asshole like Hunt and Connington, right?"

"I don't think that."

She didn't know what to think actually. Jaime kissed her and she kissed back. All seven hells must have frozen over.

"I was just going to ask you to dance for a bit then take you out for ice cream," Jaime said then groaned in frustration. He was slapping the suds away from his face. "I just ruined this, didn't I? I'm so sorry. I understand if you don't want to see me."

"I just- I don't understand." She did but she was too afraid to assume. Jaime looked determined though.

"I really, really like you, Brienne," Jaime said what her mind was afraid to even consider. "I always have for a long while. You don't know how truly wonderful you are. You're smart, funny, don't take shit from anyone. You are the only one who is ever truly honest with me. And flaws aside, I still want you. Like how you still care for me despite knowing mine." He took a deep breath before continuing. "I also know how careful you are especially after last year. I didn't want to scare you. It's just the party-"

"-does things to your head," she continued, understanding that part at least.

"Exactly. And you kissed me back. You were very good, by the way, had that thrice damned taste of soap not gotten in the way." Jaime tried to sound light but failed. His nervousness prevailed. "But I don't know if it meant anything. I should have realized parties do things to you. But I really wanted to take you out before I kissed you. I don't want you thinking that I'm not sincere. That I'm only dating you as a prize."

Brienne suddenly couldn't breathe at his confession. On one hand, it was just too sweet she may need to get checked up by the dentist. On the other hand, it was too good to be true.

But this was Jaime. Her project partner in all the minor classes they shared. Jaime, while charming when he had to be, was blunt and brutally honest, when it came to her. Jaime who despite his arrogant facade, was a defender-of-the-helpless. Jaime, who was her constant companion because Sansa and Margaery were younger than her by a year while Loras and Renly were always together. Jaime who randomly sought her out, even for silent companionship, beyond classes. One of the few constants in her college life had been Jaime.

Just like with the party, Brienne decided to just take the plunge.

"There's a new ice cream flavor at Brainfreeze is Coming. Green tea, I think. I've always wanted to try it out."

Jaime's soapy face lit up. He dipped his body down into a dramatic bow, more than half the suds of his body popping away and offered his arm in a gentlemanly gesture. Brienne wound her arm around his.

"It's yours, my lady."

Brienne swallowed a squeal at his BlueGold reference and walked with as much dignity as an ugly awkward sudsy tall manly girl could muster.

Besides, Jaime didn't care about all that. He loved her for who she is, she loved him for who he was, and they've learned to work around each other.

As they left the vicinity, the music pulsed behind them, fading, but Brienne knew in her heart that being with Jaime will always be like that party.


End file.
